You're My Hardest Project
by akburke369
Summary: For a school project, Andi has to make a presentation about another student. The student she is assigned to is Rodrick Heffley, a boy whom she had never even heard of before. What could possibly happen when these two meet up and must work together? -DISCONTINUED-
1. Assignment

**Title: You're My Hardest Project  
><strong>**Rating: Teen  
><strong>**Primary Characters: Rodrick Heffley, Andi Harrison (OC)  
>Secondary Characters: other miscellaneous DoaWK characters<br>Paring: Rodrick/Andi (OC)  
>Summary: For a school project, Andi has to make a presentation about another student. The student she is assigned to is Rodrick Heffley, a boy whom she had never even heard of before. What could possibly happen when these two meet up and must work together?<strong>

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><p>"Is he seriously that oblivious to the bell?" My friend Luna asked from the seat in front of me. I stopped spinning a moment to steal a glance at her.<p>

"Yes, I believe so." I responded with a slight grin as I went back to spinning. After another minute I let out a sigh and kicked the chair next to me where a boy sat, "Hey, go tell Mr. H class started." The guy raised an eyebrow at me.

"Do it yourself, I have a project to work on." He replied and turned back to his computer screen. I rolled my eyes and stood up, making my way toward the front desk.

"Mr. H, it's time for you to stop watching lesbian internet porn and actually instruct the class." I said loudly as I stood in front of him. A few students laughed at my comment as Mr. H looked up at me.

"One: I don't appreciate those kind of comments in the classroom; two: I acknowledge that the bell has rung, I'm just choosing to finish my own work rather than give you yours." He said with a smile. You see, Mr. H was one of the cooler teachers at this school that students could get along with; he could take (and give out) jokes and you could really talk to him about anything.

"Well… could you hurry?" I asked and tapped my foot. Mr. H tried to hide an eye roll as he started clicking on his computer.

"Just give me another minute and finish your last video project." He replied. I pinched my lips to the side slightly.

"I finished that two days ago…" I replied then looked back at the class. I started walking to the very front and center of the room, "Today class, I would love for all of you to start making gore films with a great deal of blood and maybe a sex scene that will surely get me fired!" I yelled at everyone. There were multiple students who rolled their eyes at me and made side comments as a few awesome ones, which included Luna, either laughed or began talking to me.

"Thank you for that, Andi, now take a seat." Mr. H finally stood up and walked toward me. I made my way back toward my seat and jumped the last few feet, landing in the chair that rolled backwards once I hit it. I laughed lightly before I looked back up at Mr. H, "Alright guys, I know that there are a lot of you who are still in the middle of one or more projects, so those of you who are in that situation can just go back to work." I saw a handful of students look back at their computer screens, plug in headphones, or grab notebooks, ignoring the next thing that Mr. H had to say, "But for those who have completed all their projects and need a new assignment, I just decided on a new one yesterday afternoon. I talked to some of the other teachers at the school and they gave me the idea to have you observe other students." I raised my eyebrow at this and looked around the room at the other students.

"What do you mean by 'observe other students'?" someone in the front asked. Mr. H looked at them.

"I was just getting to that…" He replied before looking back out at the whole class, "What I mean is, for the next few weeks you will start to follow a student and make a project based on what you learned about them. You can make this presentation in any form you please, but you need to get to know these people; the project will help you with many communication skills and hopefully sharpen your technology skills even more." I smirked slightly; Mr. H was basically asking us to be stalkers.

"You're probably gonna do great with this project." Luna said as she turned around to look at me once more. The smirk stayed on my face as I raised an eyebrow, "You're a perfect stalker." She joked.

"Oh, come on; don't bring any of that up again." I said, remembering some of the jokes my friends like to say about me.

"Andi, you are the only person I know who has looked someone up in the phonebook to find their address and basically follow them everywhere; this guy didn't even know you." I could feel a light blush on my cheeks as I saw the boy next to me look at me scared and confused.

"That was one time…" I said with shifty eyes, "It was years ago and no longer important." Luna laughed at me and turned around.

"Mr. H," She said as he looked at her, "how do we choose who we'll be observing?"

"Well, I talked to a few other teachers and they have each given me two of their students; I asked them to tell me students of all personalities and they all talked to these students, or at least tried." He replied with a smile.

"So… do we choose from the list?" I asked, still a little unclear.

"You can choose or I can choose for you, whichever you'd prefer." I nodded; I was guessing those of us who would do the project would probably say we wanted to choose, or at least the majority of us, "So, whoever's ready for this project, come to the front of the room." There were about ten of us that stood up and followed him to his desk. Mr. H took a seat in his chair and opened a document with a list of students' names, "Oh, and by the way, just to make things more fun you can't observe someone you know very well." I could hear a few of the people groan as I tried to look over everyone to see the screen; I really don't understand why everyone was taller than me, I'm not even short yet everyone was a good few inches taller than me, even the girls.

People began choosing someone to observe based on the scarce amount of information about each student on the list; I knew a few people mentioned, not as a friend, but because everyone in school knew who they were. And some of these kids were choosing those well-known students, thinking that would make the project easier. After Luna chose some freshman girl to observe I stood next to Mr. H, being the last person to get a student to observe. I was about to open my mouth to say something but Mr. H beat me to it.

"Before you say anything, will you be the one person to except the challenge of me choosing the person you observe for you?" I shrugged slightly.

"Honestly, I don't care, just choose whomever." I replied and looked over his shoulder at the names left on the screen. Mr. H made a few 'hmm' sounds as he turned away from me and began looking at all the names.

"I'm guessing you might want a challenge?" He stole a glance at me a moment. I quickly nodded, "Then I've narrowed it down…" He continued to look at the screen, continuing to think, "And you said you didn't care who I chose?" I gave another nod, "Alright then." Mr. H turned in his seat to look at me, "You'll be observing Mr. Rodrick Heffley; he's a junior and his last period, which you will go to from time to time, is English." I nodded.

"Why am I going to his last period?" I asked and looked at the screen a moment.

"So you can see his behaviour in class; seeing that this is a class project, you have the opportunity to miss this class a few times for your project, you just have to check in with me first on those days." Mr. H replied with a slight smile. I nodded then pulled out my pen, writing this boy's name on my hand.

"So… during the last few minutes of class can I head over there to talk to him and his teacher?" I asked and leaned on a table.

"That would be good; if you need to bring anything with you just let me know what you're taking." I gave Mr. H a nodded and walked back to my seat. Like she does many times within the period, Luna turned her chair to look at me. I plopped down in my chair, which moved back a few inches as I did so, and Luna gave me a smile.

"So, who are you observing?" She asked and leaned her elbows on the table, sticking her head between the computers to look at me. I looked back down at my hand.

"His name is… Rodrick Heffley." I looked back up at her, "Do you know him?" Luna looked like she was thinking for a few moments.

"He sounds familiar… but no; I probably know someone that knows him though." She said with a smile. I nodded slightly, "Do you know that chick I'm observing?" I gave her a look.

"Since when do I know anyone in this school?" I asked with a grin and Luna shook her head while she rolled her eyes, "Exactly."


	2. A Difficult Meeting

I walked through the hallway quietly as I looked at the doors; this part of school was familiar to me, seeing that my English teacher happened to be the same as Rodrick's. With just this knowledge I was guessing he wasn't a star student; he and I were a year apart in school and my teacher taught AP freshmen and sophomores while she taught regular English for juniors.

I came to her door and knocked lightly. After a few moments a girl came to answer the door before she rushed back to her seat in the front row. I walked in the room and saw all the students take a glance at me before going back to their work- well; actually most of them weren't working. I walked over to Ms. St. John's desk where she sat grading a few papers. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Oh, Andi," She said in her British accent (which is quite ironic, seeing that she taught English), "what are you doing here?" I returned her smile.

"For an assignment in my multimedia class I have to observe students-" I began but she cut me off.

"Mr. H told me about that." I nodded slightly, "I'm guessing you're here to observe either Rodrick or Beverly."

"Rodrick." I replied simply. Ms. St. John nodded and looked at her class.

"Well, he's in the back of the room, right there," She pointed to a guy with long, dark hair and a brown shirt on, practically falling asleep on his desk, "I hate to say this, but he's a bit of a disappointment…" I stifled a slight laugh, "After class introduce yourself; until then, you can sit at the empty chair by the window." I nodded and walked to the chair, dropping my bag on the ground loudly which got me a few glares. I just rolled my eyes and sat down, waiting for the last five minutes of this period to end.

As I looked around the room, I noticed a lot of things: this class was definitely for the slower students (my class was already ahead of them in their work), most of them were slackers, and Ms. St. John did nothing to get them to focus their attention on school work (I'm guessing she gave up on them). I stole a glance at one student and saw her staring at me with a confused and slightly snooty look.

"What?" I hissed slightly and raised my eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in an annoyed tone. I let out a sigh.

"Well, right now I'm sitting," I said sarcastically. The girl scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Don't be a smart ass; just tell me why you're in here." She urged again.

"I'm waiting for the period to be over, that's what I'm doing." I replied and turned away from her. I heard her make another annoyed scoff as I slumped down in my chair and began twirling my pencil boredly.

Soon enough, the bell rang and the students quickly packed up their few belongings. I quickly stood up and started walking toward the back of the room, hoping to catch Rodrick before he disappeared. As I made my way back there I saw Ms. St. John stand up and walk toward the door, stopping right next to the door frame. I took in a deep breath before looking at the Rodrick guy who was standing and bent over his backpack.

"Rodrick…?" I asked, suddenly feeling a little intimidated; he was taller than he looked at first and had a bit of a rough expression on his face. He looked back at me confused.

"What do you want?" He asked as the put the backpack over his shoulder. I stared a moment and took in another breath.

"Well… uh… for a project I…" I bit my lip and Rodrick rolled his eyes at me. He started walking away but I grabbed his arm, "Wait!" he looked down at where I held his upper arm then back at my face, "Look, Ms. St. John volunteered you to help me in a project for my multimedia class." Rodrick looked rather annoyed hearing this as he stole a glance at Ms. St. John who was watching the two of us.

"Why the hell would she volunteer me?" He asked, shaking his arm out of my hold.

"I have no idea, but she did, and now I have to… observe you…" I said, now realizing how odd that sounded.

"Observe me?" He asked with a smirk and a bit of a mock amused voice, "What about me are you 'observing'?" I shrugged slightly.

"Just you, I guess." I let out another sigh as Rodrick began walking toward the door. I followed close behind, "I just have to observe your behaviour for the next few weeks and make a presentation about it." Rodrick looked back down at me.

"Well doesn't that sound terribly exciting." He said with sarcasm. I looked at Ms. St. John a moment who walked toward me.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." I said to her and Rodrick stopped walking to look back at us.

"You have to learn who Rodrick is through what you observe about him." She said with a shrug, "It's pretty basic." Ms. St. John then looked at Rodrick, "And you are not going to back out of this or avoid her." Rodrick smirked slightly.

"I didn't even choose to do this; it's all news to me." He replied.

"This is her grade, it's important." Ms. St. John said and took a step toward Rodrick.

"And why do I care about her grade?" He asked. Mr. St. John had a bit of an exhausted expression on her face.

"Well, if you refuse to care about your own at least care about someone else's." She said and I smiled slightly at that comment. Rodrick rolled his eyes.

"Fine, whatever…" He began walking away. I looked at Ms. St. John who pushed me slightly.

"Just follow him and pester him, eventually he'll stop being so rude." She said as I nodded then walked out of the room, following him.

"Rodrick." I said and I could hear him sigh loudly before he turned around to look at me. I bit my lip and looked up at him, "Uh… well, I guess I'm going to need to know what kind of schedule to make; I know you're not gonna want me to just pop up randomly, so just tell me times that'll work." He stared at me for a few moments.

"I don't really care, just BS everything." He turned to walk away. My jaw set as I grabbed his arm again.

"Hey, I'm being serious right now; you might as well act a little mature." Rodrick rolled his eyes and walked with me still holding his arm out from the middle of the hallway.

"Fine, I'll help you with this stupid project," he began as he leaned on the wall and I released his arm, "I'm not usually busy, so you can come to my house basically whenever." He turned around once more.

"Wait!" I felt like I was being really annoying, but honestly, he was hardly any help here, "At least give me your number so I can call you; I don't think you or your parents will appreciate me just showing up at random."

"Yeah, yeah…" Rodrick quickly gave me his number, "I guess I'll get yours too." I quickly said mine as he began walking away.

"My name is Andi, by the way." The only thing that let me know he was listening was a 'hmm' type of sound that came from his throat as he disappeared around a corner.

I lied back on my bed and stared the spinning ceiling fan in complete silence. This Rodrick guy was going to be a challenge, but that's what Mr. H wanted to give me. I just didn't know that it would be as difficult as it already has been. I expected to be able to handle him, but he intimidated me, which wasn't good at all, it will only make things more difficult.

I looked at the camera sitting next to me; Mr. H let me borrow one of the good cameras for the week yet I haven't done anything with it yet. Maybe when I'm with Rodrick I'll document what happens with pictures. And then I looked at my phone; maybe I should call or text him. I have no homework tonight and maybe if I'm lucky he's not busy. But maybe I shouldn't; maybe I should just give him a day.

…But there was honestly nothing to do in this house…

With one last sigh I picked up my phone and quickly sent him a text.

'Hey, i hate 2 bother u right now, but would it b possibl 2 do sumthing rite now?'

I sat and waited a few minutes till I finally received a reply:

'Band practice, just come ovr now'

I smiled slightly; I now had something to do. I quickly asked him for his address before I grabbed my jacket, camera, and notebook before I walked out the door. From what I knew he didn't live as close as I would have liked, but walking to his house wouldn't be a bother for me, I walk everywhere anyway.

I hoped I wouldn't be too much of a bother; well, I already was one (I think) but I didn't want to seem any more annoying than I already was. There was a chance I'd make him look stupid in front of his band or he wouldn't want me meeting his family. But I was just over thinking things; it's not like any of this matter, it's only a school project. But I didn't want to screw anything up.

I was now walking through a neighborhood and looked at the houses then at my phone, where Rodrick's text was open. I looked at the address then started looking at the different houses, knowing this was the street he was on.

'_Where the hell is 114?' _I looked at the numbers on the side of the houses but never saw 114 on any of them. Maybe he wrote the address wrong…?

i cant find ur house where is it?

I waited a few minutes but never got a response. I wouldn't be surprised if he was just lying to me. He probably gave me an address that wasn't even real because he didn't want to see me. He wanted nothing to do with me.

So, with an annoyed huff I began walking back to my house, being put in a terrible mood for the rest of the night.

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><p><strong>Sorry to any readers that I made you wait so long; I've been on a vacation and had almost no internet access. So, I hope you all enjoyed this.<strong>


	3. Learning

After looking at the clock and seeing that we still had five minutes till school ended, I stood up and walked to Mr. H's desk.

"Hey, I'm heading to Rodrick's class again." I told him as I picked up one of the cameras. Mr. H quickly wrote me a note.

"How's the project going?" He asked with a smile. I hid my annoyed look as I made my way to the door.

"It's going just fine…" I lied, opening the door then leaving the classroom before he had anything else to say. I glared slightly as I made my way down the hall; since Rodrick screwed with me last night, I've been a little pissy all day.

Now, we had three minutes left of school and instead of stepping into Ms. St. John's classroom I waited right across from the door, leaning on the lockers. I was going to wait for Rodrick to come out of class and talk to him, maybe give him a piece of my mind.

The bell rang loudly and a few moments later kids were storming out of every classroom in the hall. Rodrick was one of the first students to walk out of the Ms. St. John's room, talking to another boy in the class.

"Rodrick!" I yelled at him. I saw him turn to me and roll his eyes. I glared slightly as I walked toward him and he looked back at the other boy, continuing their conversation, "Hey!" I grabbed his arm, like I've done many times before, and he looked back at me unhappily.

"What do you want, shorty?" He asked in an annoyed tone as the other boy walked away. I continued glaring at him as he tried to get out of my grip.

"Okay, first off, I actually have a name." I said angrily as Rodrick once more rolled his eyes, "And, I would prefer if you took this project of mine seriously. I know you don't care about it, but I do, and it would be nice if you weren't such an ass about it." Rodrick and I stared each other in the eye determinedly.

"Fine, I'll go along with this stupid project of yours," he finally said, "I could care less about it, but I honestly just don't care." He sighed and I smiled slightly.

"Good, now I don't want you to mess with me at all anymore." I said. Rodrick began walking down the hall and I followed right beside him, "So, how about I come to your house today." I could see Rodrick frown slightly.

"Really, today?" he asked in an annoyed tone as we were soon out in the school parking lot.

"I'm not actually going to give you a choice." I said with a smirk. He continued to have an annoyed expression on his face as we walked along, "Look, I really don't want this to suck, so can we at least try not to be so cold to each other?" Rodrick said nothing and didn't look at me as he made his way toward an ugly white van with the words _'Löded Diper' _written along the side. I raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing.

"Okay, just so you know, I would really prefer you not tell everyone my life secrets." He said as he opened the driver's door and I opened the passenger's.

"Easy enough; I'll make a project rough draft and you can tell me what you don't want in the final." Rodrick soon started the car and we were out of the parking lot.

"That sounds fair enough… what are all the things you want to know, exactly?" I began pondering his question; what _did _I want to know about this guy's life?

"Uh… that's a really good question…" I said and let a small laugh escape my lips. Rodrick lightly shook his head; "Maybe a little bit of everything?" a sigh escaped his lips.

"You really want to know everything?" He looked away from the road a moment to glance at me.

"Maybe… unless there's something you'd rather I not know." I replied with a light shrug, "So, we can start with the easy stuff… do you have a basic schedule?" There was a smirk on Rodrick's face.

"Schedule?" he let out a laugh, "Sadly, I have a bit of one, but that's to keep my parents off my back." I grabbed my small notebook.

"Then let's start there; what's this sad excuse of a schedule?" I smiled at him as he went silent for a moment.

"Wake up at 7am, clothes, food, backpack, drive to school, sleep in first two periods, slack of in the next two, have a kickass lunch, slack off in my last two classes, go home, some days my band'll come over and we rehearse, eat dinner, then do whatever." I wrote as quick as I could (which made my writing look very sloppy, might I add).

"Woooow, I'm not even one bit an over achiever and I think you're pretty lame." I said with a smirk and a laugh.

"Hey, it works for me, that's all that matters." Rodrick replied as we pulled in front of one of the many houses and he took the keys out of the ignition.

"If you're such a slacker…" I thought for a moment, "how did you even get your license?"

"I actually put effort into learning." He replied as we got out of the car and started walking to the house. I raised an eyebrow.

"And why put an effort into learning to drive a car and not into school?" Rodrick came to a stop at the front door.

"It means freedom, you know? I can drive myself where ever I want to be." He replied as we walked inside. It was fairly quiet in his house; the only noises I actually heard were coming from upstairs.

"Is that the only thing you put an effort into?" Rodrick turned to the left and walked through an entrance way and then walked into a kitchen.

"I put an effort in my drumming." He replied and opened the fridge. I leaned on the counter and waited as he began searching for some kind of snack.

As I waited I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and looked at Rodrick to see a smirk come across his face. A few moments later, two boys, who looked to be about twelve, walked into the kitchen and stopped when they saw Rodrick and I. Rodrick continued to smirk as he closed the fridge (with a bottle of soda now in hand) and took a few steps toward the boys.

"Well, hello twerps." He said, "And what baby things have you done today?" The boy with the darker hair (I'm guessing he was Rodrick's brother) looked at his friend then back to Rodrick. I picked up my notepad.

"None of your business, Rodrick." He pushed past Rodrick who gave a slight shocked expression. I wrote something down as I took a seat on a chair and continued watching them.

"I think it is my business." Rodrick replied. I reached for my bag and pulled out my camera; I had to observe and record his life, so I might as well do so now.

"Well, it's not so just leave us alone." The young boy began walking away, "Come on, Rowley." Rodrick quickly slid his foot out in front of the boy, causing him to trip on the ground. As this happened I quickly snapped photo of the action, which caused Rodrick to look at me confused.

"Just ignore me." I said with a smile and a wave of my hand. Rodrick shook his head but looked back down at his brother who was picking himself up off the ground.

"I'll tell mom." The younger kid said; which got me to smile and stifle a laugh. Rodrick did something similar, but made his laugh much more noticeable; at that moment I took another picture.

"Tell her what, that I was being a meanie?" Rodrick mocked and laughed once more. His brother took a step forward and pointed a finger out toward me.

"I'll tell her you brought a girl home." I took a picture then realized he was talking about me, which brought a light blush to my face; I didn't want to be dragged into this. Rodrick looked between me and his brother.

"So…?" He began.

"You know how she'll respond to that…?" Rodrick looked away and thought a moment before glaring down at his brother slightly.

"Fine; so just go." His brother began walking away, "And bring the Baby Hippo with you." Rodrick pointed at the Rowley kid and I stifled another laugh, writing another thing down before taking a last picture. The two younger boys left the room and Rodrick looked back at me, "You know, it's really weird having someone sit there and take pictures of me fighting with my brother." I gave him a smile.

"What's his name, by the way?" I asked. Rodrick rolled his eyes.

"Greg…" He mumbled. I nodded and wrote it down, "Anyway, we can move on now." He quickly walked back to the front of the house and I had to speed walk to keep up with him. We walked up a flight of stairs and walked to a door. Rodrick opened it to reveal another flight of stairs and I gawked slightly; he had an attic bedroom. I've always wanted an attic bedroom!

Once we made it to the top of the stairs I looked around and began taking pictures of the mess that sat in front of me.

"Come on, don't take a million pictures." He said as he put his hand in front of the camera lens. I gave a slight shrug.

"Sorry, I just really like my camera." I replied before setting it down on a nightstand.

"Apparently…" He muttered, "So… uh… there's really not many interesting things I do…" I nodded slightly with a smile.

"I guess so…" I looked around, "There has to be something though… what do you do when you get home?" Rodrick sat at the head of his bed and thought.

"… Nothing…" he said and I sighed in defeat.

"Well that's fantastically helpful." I said sarcastically and sat at the foot of the bed, "Just… tell me about yourself…" I picked up my notepad once more.

"What's there to tell?" He asked with a shrug, "Honestly, there's nothing particularly special about me."

"Not true." I said and kicked his foot lightly, "Who is Rodrick Heffley?" Rodrick sat and stared at me.

"…don't care much about school, my focus is on my music, I really don't like being around my family much, and I cherish my alone time." He said simply, "Not much to it."

"There's just not much you want to say yet." I replied as I wrote down what he said, "Sooner or later there'll be a lot more for you to say than you think."

"I guess so…" He said, mostly to himself, as he picked up my camera and began looking at it. I watched as he pressed random buttons, adjusted the lens, and looked through it. He then quickly took a picture of me and after my eyes immediately widened and I covered my face.

"No pictures!" I replied and heard Rodrick laugh.

"You get pictures of me, I get pictures of you, it's only fair." He said and took another photo. I glared through my fingers as he took one of that action.

"I'm taking picture s for a project." I replied, "It's my job." Rodrick rolled his eyes.

"So? I can still have my fun." He took a few more pictures of me before I gave up.


	4. The Next Few Weeks

**Well, for the past few days I've been trying really hard to rewrite this chapter, but I couldn't. I just didn't have enough inspiration, I guess, but here's chapter four anyway.**

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><p>I stepped into the Heffley house for what feels like the millionth time; I've been coming here whenever I got the chance. I have thus far only been to one rehearsal for his band, but that's due to choice. The band just isn't very good. I mean, they all really do get into their music, but together it just doesn't sound so great. Photographing them is fun but it was hard for me to sit and listen to them play. And now here I was once more; why exactly, I'm not sure (seeing that in the past couple of weeks I've been here a lot), but here I was.<p>

Rodrick looked around the house for a moment before turning back to me.

"Hey, start heading up to my room, I'll be there in a minute." He said and walked through one of the entranceways. I began up the stairs and when I made it to the top saw Greg and Rowley coming out of Greg's bedroom.

"Yo, Greg!" I said with a head nod and an awkward wave. The two younger boys looked at me confused as I let out a laugh. I continued my way up to Rodrick's room and sat down on his bed, waiting for him.

After a minute I could hear a lot of yelling and couldn't help but roll my eyes; I discovered that Rodrick and his brother fight… a lot… I picked up my camera, notepad, and started walking down the stairs but came to a stop and listened. I heard two sets of footsteps; one quickly fading while the other pounded down the hall and a moment or two later Rodrick was at the stairs with wide eyes.

"I think I need you to hide…" He mumbled and came up the stairs. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Why do I-"

"Rodrick Heffley! If you have a girl in your room you are in trouble!" I heard a woman's voice yell; I had yet to meet either of Rodrick's parents and I'm guessing he hasn't told them about me either.

"That's why…" he mumbled and pushed me back up the stairs. Moments later footsteps came up the stairs as neither Rodrick nor I moved, "Damn, I forgot she came home early on Fridays…" There was then a woman standing at the top of the stairs with her arms crossed and looking at Rodrick with a stern look.

"Rodrick…" she walked forward.

"Hi… mom…?" He said with hesitation. His mum looked over at me then back at her son.

"Greg just told me that you have snuck this girl to your room for a few days now; is it true?" Rodrick opened his mouth but said nothing.

"He hasn't snuck me up here…" I said slowly as the two of them turned their attention to me.

"She just always went home before you got home." Rodrick said. His mother still didn't look too happy.

"Okay… I'm not like Rodrick's… girlfriend or anything; I'm here working on a project for school." I walked in front of Rodrick so I was closer to his mum, "So, uh… hi, I'm Andi." I said and gave her a smile. After a few moments of hesitation she gave me a smile.

"Well then, I'm Susan Heffley." She gave me a smile and took my hand, giving it a quick shake, "Can I ask what the project is and if Rodrick is doing his part?"

"Well, it's just my project, but I'm supposed to make a presentation about Rodrick, so I'm just learning about him and his life." I said with a smile.

"There's not much to learn…" she said, which caused me to laugh, as she made her way to the staircase, "Are you planning to stay for dinner?"

"No!" Rodrick said as he stepped forward. I looked at him then turned to his mum and smiled.

"Why not?" She returned the smile as she began down the stairs.

"Good, it'll be nice to get to know you." She walked down the stairs and Rodrick looked at me.

"You really don't have to stay." He said as a bit of a demand.

"I think I will; after all, I do need to learn about your life." Rodrick groaned lightly.

"Whatever…" he muttered as he went back to take a seat on his bed.

"So, what class is this project for again?" Rodrick's father asked as we sat at the table. I looked up from my plate and swallowed the food in my mouth.

"It's for my multimedia class." I replied. Thus far, things have gone really well with Rodrick and his family; I like his parents.

"And you're a… sophomore, you said?" I nodded and took another bit of food; Rodrick's dad was a bit awkward and a small talk kind of person, so many of the things he's asked me have been these short, easy questions. The dinner table went quiet before Greg began talking excitedly about something that I ignored.

I looked at Rodrick who was practically stuffing his face with food and rolled my eyes. I gave him a quick kick in the shin, causing his leg to jerk up and hit the table roughly. Everyone looked at him confused as I stifled a laugh and he glared at me. After a moment everyone else went back to conversing as Rodrick looked at me.

"What?" He asked with slight annoyance in his tone.

"Do we have to sit at the table the entire meal?" I asked impatiently. Rodrick gave me a nod.

"We always do." I groaned slightly.

"But… why…?" I asked as I took another bit of food.

"That's how it always is. Your family never eats at the table?" I shook my head quickly.

"Only on holidays; this is just weird for me." I replied. Rodrick let out a sigh then was silent for a few moments.

"Hey mom, dad, Andi and I need to go work on the project so can we go now?" I smiled slightly at the question and waited patiently.

"Well, I trust Andi enough to know that you'll actually be working on the project…" His mother began, "So, just take care of your plates." A smile spread across my face as I stood and picked up my cup.

"Thank you Mrs. Heffley." I also picked up my plates and Rodrick and I put them in the sink. We both quickly began making our way up to Rodrick's room.

"You do realize that we'll have almost nothing to do, since you already know enough shit about my life." He said as we reached the top of the first flight of stairs.

"We'll figure out something." I said and gave a big, toothy smile as we began up the second staircase, "Hell, maybe we'll just screw around and do something that doesn't even relate to the project."

"…like what…?" Rodrick raised an eyebrow and I thought. What could we do? I slapped my hand to my forehead as Rodrick fell back on his bed.

"You're really a very boring person, you realize that?" I said to him and he nodded with a smirk on his face as he put his hands behind his head. I rolled my eyes while I smiled slightly, "Rodrick, we've been hanging out for two weeks and thus far I feel like I still haven't gotten to know you very well."

"So?" He replied with a shrug; his eyes were now closed and he looked like he was just trying to relax. I let out a sigh.

"Could you at least try to open up a little?" I asked. He lied there silently and I could see him thinking about that last question. I walked toward the bed and hit his legs, indicating for him to move them, but he didn't even budge. I rolled my eyes (like I seem to do A LOT around him) before sitting on his knees which caused him to jump slightly at the unexpected contact.

"What _are _you doing?" He asked with opened eyes as he lifted his head to look at me. I gave him an innocent smile.

"I'm sitting." I replied sweetly. Rodrick shook his head while smirking.

"Okay… this is just me thinking out loud, but I'm not learning anything about you; I know that you're doing a project about me and all, but I know nothing about you." I bit my lip; Rodrick made a good point.

"So, are you saying that you want me to tell you just as much as you tell me?" He gave me a nod, "Well, I'm guessing that makes you more comfortable." I looked up thinking, "First thing you should know then… I'm an only child and my parents are hardly ever home, so I usually try to find a reason to not be home by myself."

"Might explain why you're here even when things get boring?" Rodrick asked and I nodded in response, "Well, that's a start." He sat up and looked down at his knees, which I was still sitting on.

"Want me to move?" I asked, guessing that's what he wanted.

"Naw, you're fine." He replied simply, "What else do you want to know about me?" I moved slightly so I wasn't having his boney knees jabbing into my butt.

"What your personality is like; you put off a different behaviour at school, with your family, and with certain people. I want to know who the real Rodrick is."

"All of those are the real Rodrick." He said almost directly after I finished my sentence, "It's just the different sides of Rodrick I'm comfortable with." I smiled slightly.

"So you aren't just the lazy ass delinquent." I said, more to myself, but he obviously heard.

"I guess so." He replied, "And what about you; I don't really see a change in personality much in different places… Except when around adults; that's when you act with more respect."

"Not all adults; when with my multimedia teacher I treat him like I treat other students. I've just learnt to be comfortable being me around everyone… for the most part…" Rodrick leaned forward slightly.

"'For the most part'. What does that mean?" I sighed and looked away from him.

"Like everyone else there are some parts to my personality that no one, or most people, see." Rodrick nodded before he began lying back against his pillows once more and we continued talking.


	5. Next

As I began blinking my eyes open and yawning, I saw that my surroundings were different than that of my bedroom. My face scrunched together in confusion as my eyes darted around the room I was in before recognizing it was Rodrick's. I sat up slowly to see that I fell asleep at the foot of his bed with him at the head of it. I stretched my arms and stood up slowly.

"Rodrick…" I said as I pushed his slightly. No response. I shook my head and began shaking his shoulder. This guy sleeps like a log! I looked around his room as I continued trying to wake him, "Rodrick!" I then spotted his drumsticks sitting in the nightstand. I picked them up and without hesitation started tapping them roughly on his head and shoulders. Surprisingly enough, this got him awake.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked as he sat up and grabbed at the drumsticks. My reactions were a little faster and I jumped back, holding the drumsticks out of his reach.

"I'm just waking you up, that's all." I said with an innocent look. Rodrick glared at me.

"And you had to use the drumsticks?" He questioned in an annoyed tone. I nodded before turning and jumping in the chair near his bed, "Well, put them back, no one else is allowed to touch them." I made a thinking face.

"I don't know if I really want to…" I gave him an evil smirk as he continued to stare at me with the annoyed look.

"Andi…" he said in annoyance.

"Rodrick…" I mocked his tone. Before I knew it, he jumped up and was on top of me, grabbing the drumsticks. I was surprised for a moment, but I held the drumsticks tightly while laughing.

"Give them back!" He said. I tried using my feet to push him away, but it didn't work.

"You're pretty protective over these drumsticks." I replied as he and I both continued to tug on the two sticks. After another few moments of fighting, the chair we sat in suddenly tipped back and we thudded to the ground. Rodrick crashed down on top of me and I let out a cough before releasing the drumsticks, "Holy crap!" Rodrick rolled off of me as he held the drumsticks close. He gave me a smirk as he sat up and I lied on the ground, "Do you think anyone heard that?"

"Most likely." He replied, "But that doesn't really matter." I raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't matter? Yesterday you got scared about your mum finding me in your room but you're not worried today?" Rodrick was silent for a few moments before he stood up.

"…good point…" he replied. I looked around his room for any sign of a clock, but found none. I sighed before taking out my cell phone; 12:30.

"Shit, it's a good thing today is Saturday…" I said to myself and stood, "Wanna do something today?" Rodrick looked over at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Why?" He asked as I shrugged.

"Cuz we can? I mean, we're already together so why not go do something?" I replied.

"And what would we do?" I sat and thought for a few moments.

"Uh… mall?" I asked with a smile; I personally loved shopping and I loved the mall. Rodrick sighed.

"If we must." I raised an eyebrow.

"If you want to do something else we can." I said but he shook his head.

"It's cool; I'm just gonna shower first so… you can figure out something to do while you wait…" he walked down his stairs sluggishly as I looked around his room.

"Fun…" I muttered and put the chair back upright. I looked down at myself and shook my head. I then walked to his dresser and opened one of the drawers; I'm hoping he wouldn't mind me borrowing one of his shirts…

After quickly changing my shirt I fell back on his bed and lied there for a few minutes. I then sat up and smirked before I once more grabbed his drumsticks. I began boredly tapping away on my knees and waited for him to be done in the shower.

A few more minutes later Rodrick came back up the stairs which brought a blush to my cheeks.

"Normally you'd try to not walk around your house in a towel when there are guests over." I said to him and looked away.

"You'd also not continue playing with my drumsticks and wearing my clothes without permission." He replied smartly. I laughed lightly and set down his drumsticks, "Why are you wearing my shirt anyway?"

"I'm not going to wear my shirt for two days in a row; that's a little gross." I said. I looked over at Rodrick to see him smirking while he grabbed a few things out of his dresser, "Just get your clothes and go change."

"Well, are you ready to go?" he asked as he walked back down the stairs. I nodded, "Then come downstairs and I'll be down in a few minutes."

I followed behind him before he walked into the bathroom and I made my way down to the main floor. I looked around and saw there was no one and turned into the kitchen where I stopped for a moment when I saw Greg. I shook my head before continuing walking to the fridge.

"Hey, Greg." He looked at me confused.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as I grabbed the milk carton then walked to the cabinet.

"Oh, didn't Rodrick tell you? He and I plan to wed so I'm moving in with you guys." I joked as Greg gawked at me a moment. I rolled my eyes; he thought I was being seriously, "Wow, gullible much…" I poured a glass of milk before sitting myself up on the counter.

"Seriously… why are you here…?" He asked after realizing what I said was a lie. I shook my head with a smirk.

"Rodrick and I are hanging out today, why else would I be here." I replied as I took a sip of my milk.

"Well… you're here a lot…" He muttered as we heard footsteps before seeing Rodrick enter the kitchen. He looked at Greg a moment before walking over to me and stealing my glass of milk and chugging the rest down.

"Wow, thanks…" I said and shook my head.

"K, let's get going." Rodrick began walking to the door. I hopped off the counter and began following.

"Rodrick, mom and dad aren't home and left you in charge." Greg said and followed us. Rodrick turned around with an annoyed look.

"Well, I'm going out." He replied.

"But you need to take care of Manny." Greg argued back. I looked between the two; on one hand, I definitely wanted to go out, but on the other Manny needed to be taken care of.

"You take care of Manny, you're, what, twelve now?" Rodrick replied and opened the front door, "See ya." He began walking out the front door but I grabbed his arm for a moment.

"Hey, we should stay and take care of Manny." I said and Rodrick squinted his eyes in confusion.

"Why? I thought you wanted to go out." He replied in a confused tone. I shrugged.

"I do want to go out, but Manny is your responsibility right now and, honestly, if I were you I wouldn't leave Greg to take care of him." Greg looked at me surprised.

"Why; you don't trust me?" he asked and I nodded.

"When I was twelve I could hardly take care of my dog, if that tells you anything." I said in response, "So, we are now taking care of Manny."

"How can I trust _you_?" Greg asked, "If you couldn't take care of your dog how can you now take care of my brother?" I smirked.

"You can't, but I think I'll be better with him than you." I said. I could hear Rodrick sigh too dramatically.

"But that's so boring…" He said. I shook my head while rolling my eyes and walking into the living room where Manny sat in front of the TV.

"Hi Manny." I said in a happy voice and put on a smile. Manny smiled back at me as I picked him up and walked back over to a slightly annoyed looking Rodrick and Greg with a slight smirk on his face, "If this is so boring, than we can go out." Rodrick smiled slightly.

"That makes it a little better…" He responded then looked at Greg with a glare, "but you're not coming."

"That's fine; I'd rather go over to Rowley's anyway." Greg said and rolled his eyes before walking out the door. I looked back at Rodrick and smiled slightly as Manny made a cute sound.

"So, we wanna go now?" I asked. Rodrick took a glance at Manny for a moment then at me.

"Yeah, let's get going." We walked out to his car and I opened the door.

"Wait… you don't have a baby seat…" I said. Rodrick looked at me confused.

"And…?" He asked, climbing into the driver's seat. I sighed in annoyance.

"We need to get a baby seat…" I said and sat in the passenger seat, "I really hope you don't drive terribly with Manny in the car." Rodrick was smirking slightly and rolled his eyes.

"I would never." He said in a slightly sarcastic tone before starting the car. I put the seatbelt around both Manny and I before Rodrick drove off.

"Aw, come on, Rodrick, stop being so down." I said as we walked through the aisles of the store.

"I just don't see why we actually had to find a baby seat for my car; you know that was probably the only time Manny would ever be in my car." He replied. I looked at all the baby stuff surrounding me and smiled; everything was so cute!

"Well, maybe if you had a baby seat your parents would trust you more." I replied and looked at a few different seats. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Rodrick shaking his head and rolling his eyes, "Manny, which one do you want?" I asked in a mommy voice and looked at Manny with a smile. He looked between me and the different seats then pointed at one.

"That!" he simply said as he smiled. I looked back at Rodrick to say something but noticed him smirking down the aisle at two girls who were talking to each other and smiling back at him. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Rodrick," He looked back at me with a straight face, "could you grab that seat?" Rodrick looked from me to the seat and back.

"You can't?" he asked and my eyes narrowed at him. I held Manny out slightly.

"Obviously." I replied. Rodrick rolled his eyes but grabbed the box holding a baby seat and put it in the cart. I saw him look back down the aisle to see the two girls walk away.

"I was about to go talk to them." He said to me and grabbed the cart handle. I smirked slightly.

"Then why didn't you?" I asked. Rodrick looked away for a moment then back to me.

"You needed my help." I stifled a laugh.

"Of course; that's exactly the reason…" I replied as we started walking around the store.

"This store is boring." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Rodrick, seriously, is this complaining thing all you know how to do?" I asked with a bit of an annoyed tone.

"Well, my first choice to spend the day would not be at Wal-Mart with my baby brother." He replied with a shrug.

"Oh well, nothing you can do about it now." I said. Rodrick let out another one of his infamous sighs, "Look, we ca-" I was cut off by Rodrick's cell phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket quickly.

"Hi mom…" He began then listened to the other end for a few moments. I walked closer and leaned toward him, trying to listen. He pushed me away with a confused look, "No, actu- well, yes…" he was silent for a few moments again then smiled, "then we'll come home." He hung up and I stared at him a few moments, "My parents are home now, so we can bring Manny back." I could see the happiness in his eyes and sighed.

"You really don't enjoy time with your brothers, do you?" I asked as we quickly bought the baby seat and made our way back to the car. Rodrick set up the seat quickly and we drove back to his place.


	6. Rumours

I rushed quickly down the sidewalk and pulled out my phone to look at the time; I didn't wake up on time this morning so I slept in… for an extra few hours… So, now, here I was, running like an idiot at about noon so I could get to school and be there for at least my last two classes of the day.

The school came into view as I rounded the corner and I immediately stopped running, hoping that no one would see me running to class. A few students were walking from the building or in the parking lot, making their way to their cars. I pushed past people and walked into the cafeteria, looking around for Luna. After about a minute I saw her at a table with a few of her friends.

"Luna!" I yelled and ran toward her. She looked up confused then smiled as she saw me.

"Hey, girl!" She said and hugged me. She then pulled away and looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "And now may I ask what you're wearing?" I raised an eyebrow then looked down at myself; I was wearing Rodrick's shirt again. It was the first thing I could grab before rushing out the door.

"Oh… this is Rodrick's…" I said and Luna immediately widened her eyes along with the other people at the table.

"You mean the guy you're doing your project on?" She asked and I nodded, "Okay, are you two dating now?" she said loudly and I blushed while laughing.

"No! We're friends and I borrowed his shirt!" I replied as she laughed too.

"How are you even friends with him?" Arthur, one of Luna's best friends, asked me. I shrugged.

"Trust me, not even I know; he may be a lazy ass but he's a handful, I don't know how I deal with him." I said putting my bag on the table.

"So, where were you?" Luna asked, taking a seat and picking up her fork.

"Neither of my parents was home and I woke up late." I replied, "Hey, do you have a hair tie." Luna pulled one off her wrist and I quickly pulled and tied Rodrick's shirt so it wasn't hanging loosely on my body. I took a seat next to her and grabbed an apple out of my bag, "And I had to be here today; I have a test next period and I wanted to work on my project."

"How much do you have for it?" Luna asked as everyone seemed to be going back to their own business.

"A boatload; I think I have taken more pictures in the last few weeks than I have in one year." I replied and took a bite of my apple, "And you?" Luna grabbed a notebook.

"I already brought my camera to Mr. H, but I filled up almost half of this notebook." I raised an eyebrow a little surprised.

"Is the writing in it big?" I asked, knowing that Luna had a tendency to write much larger than people would like.

"Only a little." She said and flipped through a few pages, "But I'm actually having a lot of fun; this chick is kinda cool."

"Who woulda thought we'd enjoy this project so much?" I was smiling wide as Luna and I continued to talk about our multimedia projects throughout lunch. Her other friends (seeing that I wasn't a very sociable person, I didn't consider very many people friends) didn't talk to us much at all, which I thought was a little odd, but ignored it until the end of lunch when I made my way to fifth period.

"Hey, Andi," I raised an eyebrow and looked to my left as I entered my history classroom to see a girl named Rachel talking to me, "I heard something… interesting that I want you to clarify for me."

"Okay… what is it?" I asked wondering what on earth could this 'interesingt' thing be.

"Well, my friend said you were… dating Rodrick Heffley…" my eyes immediately widened.

"No, no, no, no, I'm not dating Rodrick!" I said a little louder than intended but continued, "We're just friends." Rachel stared at me confused for a moment.

"Is that his shirt?" I facepalmed slightly and sighed.

"Yes, it is his shirt, but it means nothing." I began walking to my seat near the front of the room, "Can't a guy and a girl be friends without everyone thinking they're dating?" I asked myself but someone replied with a 'no' and laughed. I sighed loudly again and sat in my seat.

This was just great.

Luna stood over my shoulder as I finished uploading all my photos to the computer; and let me tell you, there were A LOT. I didn't even know that I took this many… but I think Rodrick took almost half the pictures…

"Ugh…" I groaned as I opened a picture of myself and was about to delete it.

"Hey! What did we say about deleting photos?" Luna stopped me.

"I know, we said we would never delete any, but just look at that." I said in a disgusted tone and pointed at the picture of me; let's just say it was one of those times where I wasn't even caring so the picture was one of me looking ugly.

"You look fine, don't stress, I think it's kinda cute." Luna replied with a smile, "Who thought Rodrick would be good with a camera…" Luna began clicking away on my computer looking at all the pictures, "Why was he taking so many pictures in the first place?"

"On multiple occasions he stole the camera from me…" I said with a slight smile.

"He sure liked taking pictures of you…" Luna said with a hinting tone. I rolled my eyes and put my head in my hands for a moment.

"Okay, I am done with everyone being like this." I replied and she raised an eyebrow, "I have been pestered a couple of times about Rodrick today, and I've only been here for a couple of hours."

"Then I should just shut up." Luna said with a laugh, "But you shouldn't exclude any of these pictures of yourself from the project; you never know when you'll find a really good one." Luna walked back to her seat in front of me as I continued looking through the different pictures I had. I can admit that Rodrick took a few good ones but I really don't like having my picture taken.

After another few minutes I began outlining on paper what I would do for the project; I had a few ideas but didn't exactly know where to go with them. I was thinking a simple PowerPoint presentation, but then I wasn't completely sure.

I looked up when I heard turning wheels and Luna was turning around to look back at me.

"Can I ask why people are asking me if you and Rodrick are dating?" my eyes widened at this question.

"What the hell!" I yelled and many of the people in the class looked at me confused. I gave a sheepish look at Mr. H before I began whispering, "How is it that the rumour that the two of us were together got around?" She shrugged and held up her phone.

"No idea, but someone sent me a text asking; I can only guess that if they heard it from somewhere else that other people have heard." I groaned in annoyance.

"Of course something stupid like this is happening to me…" I said, "Why wouldn't it?"

"Hey, we can easily get people to shut up about it; I got connection." I giggled slightly at her last statement.

"You got connections?" I asked between laughs. Luna nodded while she laughed with me.

"You know what I mean; we can get the rumour cleared up." She replied and I gave her a lopsided smile.

"Well, you should get to that, then." I said as Luna rolled her eyes and turned in her seat.

"Yeah, yeah…" I could hear her typing on her phone before I went back to all the pictures I had. I began scrolling through them before I came to a stop on a picture that Rodrick had gotten of the two of us and stared at it. A rumour that Rodrick and I were dating? It was just so weird…

Luna and I walked alongside each other through the hallway as we began making our way toward the parking lot.

"So, are you still gonna be able to give me a ride home?" I asked her as she stopped at her locker. She gave me a shrug.

"I don't know…" I frowned slightly and gave her a confused look.

"Why? What do you do after school?" She opened her locker slowing and began putting some stuff in it.

"Well, today I was gonna go somewhere…" She trailed off and I raised an eyebrow, asking her to go on. She let out a sigh, "Last night my mom called me," I gave Luna a slight smile; her parents were separated and she hasn't seen her mother in over a year, "she came out here to visit me."

"Aw, Luna!" I said and gave her a hug as she smiled at me, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Luna shrugged slightly and I rolled my eyes at her, "Well, that's fine than, I can probably get a ride with R-"

"Andi!" Luna and I both turned to the person who yelled my name at me to see Rodrick a few feet away and walking toward me. Luna and I stole a glance at each other.

"Bye." She said quickly and started walking off.

"Hey!" I yelled at her and glared; of course she ditched me. I turned back to Rodrick who had an expression I couldn't read, "Hi, Rodrick." I gave him a smile. He looked down at me a moment before looking back up at my face.

"So, who spread the rumour?" I slapped the palm of my hand to my forehead and sighed; the rumour still hadn't been fixed.

"I have no idea," I responded, "I don't even have any guesses."

"Well, now half the people I know are asking who this new girlfriend of mine is." Rodrick replied in a bit of a bothered tone.

"Does it bother you, me being called your girlfriend?" I asked with an annoying smirk. Rodrick's eyes narrowed slightly.

"A little bit." He responded and leaned on the lockers.

"Oh, hurtful." I said sarcastically, "Look, it's bothering me just as much as it's bothering you, but I can't really do anything about it right now."

"Yeah, but you didn't really help the cause." He said and I raised an eyebrow, confused. He pointed at my torso with the drumstick he held in his right hand and I looked down.

"How do people even know this is your shirt? It could just be some random guy's t-shirt that I happen to have." I responded.

"Well, somehow people figured out it's mine," Rodrick said and stood up straight again, "and now we're in this situation." The two of us were silent for a few moments.

"Rodrick, are you mad?" I asked. Rodrick shook his head.

"No…" I raised an eyebrow, just to be sure, "a little mad, but this isn't something I should be mad about."

"Would you like to talk about it?" I asked with a mocking grin and pretended to be holding a notebook and pen in my hands, "How does it make you feel?" Rodrick smiled and rolled his eyes as I laughed lightly.

"Not as bad as before, at the moment." He responded. After a few seconds we began walking down the hall toward the parking lot.

"Hey, I know its last minute, but could you give me a ride home?" I asked. Rodrick looked as if he was thinking about it.

"I guess, but I've never been to your house before." He replied and I smiled.

"I don't think that's a problem." I replied as we got to his van.


	7. New Day, New Problems

I laughed loudly as I hit my knee once; Rodrick did a similar action which got me laughing more as I put my hands on the wheel.

"How in God's name did you get your license?" I asked between laughs. Rodrick shrugged slightly as he began to calm his laughter.

"I worked hard." He said in a bit of a tough voice. I soon slowed my laughs.

"Yeah, that's probably one of two things you've ever put any effort in." I mocked as Rodrick's hands brushed mine while he grabbed the wheel again. I pulled my hands into my lap.

"No, it's one of three." He said and I raised an eyebrow.

"What have you put effort in?" I asked with another light laugh, "Oh, and turn here!" Rodrick made a dangerous right turn which put me into another giggle fit.

"My car, my drumming, and sleeping." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Psh, 'drumming.'" I said with air quotes and Rodrick hit my shoulder once.

"Hey, you know I'm good!" He said and gave me a smile. As fast as lightning I pulled out my camera and snapped a picture before he had the chance to change his expression. At this, Rodrick raised an eyebrow.

"That's one of the few times I caught you with such a nice smile on your face." I said, defending my actions, "Make another right." Once more, Rodrick made a dangerous turn, "Okay, it's just about another block." After a few moments we came to a new street, "And I live in the ugly gray house." Rodrick looked at each house before stopping in front of mine, "You wanna come in or are you busy?"

"Naw, I got some band rehearsal stuff to take care of." He replied, "We got signed up in a talent competition." He looked very excited and very pleased with himself as he said this.

"Alright, well, have fun with rehearsals." I said and reached over to give him a hug; why did I do that, exactly? I like to hug friends; yes, I suddenly considered Rodrick a friend, this even surprises me. Rodrick froze up for a moment before he awkwardly hugged me back. I pulled back with a smile, "You need to work on that hugging thing." I said and climbed out of the car. Rodrick rolled his eyes.

"My hugs are perfect." He replied in an over exaggerated and sarcastic way. I laughed and slammed the door shut.

"Whatever you say." I replied and waved, "Bye." Rodrick gave me a small wave before he quickly drove away. I turned around and walked into the house with a smile.

"Andi," I froze at the front door for a moment; my mum was home. She was never home. She walked to the front of the house with a smile on her face.

"Mum, what are you doing home?" I asked confused. She waved her hand, as if dismissing the question.

"I got off early." She replied and looked out the window, "Wow, he sure disappeared fast." I raised an eyebrow.

"Who?" I asked as I put my bag down against the coat rack.

"That boy who gave you a ride home." My eyes widened once more as she gave me a smile, "So, who is he?"

"No one, mum." I said and walked quickly into the kitchen. I heard her follow behind me as I opened a cabinet.

"I don't think he was just no one." She replied, "So, you're not gonna tell me about your new boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" I replied quickly. She laughed lightly at me.

"You're too defensive, lighten up a little." She said and patted my shoulder, "And I can only guess he's more than a 'no one.'" I sat in a stool at the island.

"What makes you think he wasn't just a guy giving me a ride home?" I asked smartly. My mum pointed at my shirt and I immediately made an over dramatic sound, "How can everyone tell this is his shirt! Don't they think it could be mine?"

"Honey, I know your wardrobe and the only men's shirts you own are those ugly ones I refused to let your father wear and gave to you to use as pajamas or something." She said, "And if that was your father's, one: it would be bigger, two: I'd make him keep it." I sighed and rested my head on the counter for a moment.

_Even my own parents think we're dating! Dammit! _

I looked up at my mum to see her turning in the kitchen and opening the fridge. I let out a slight sigh as I stood up and began walking to my room. I pulled out my phone and dialed Rodrick's number quickly.

"_Sup?"_ he asked and I rolled my eyes at his greeting.

"Even my mum thinks we're dating." I said simply and it was silent at his end for a few moments.

"_I thought you said your parents were never home." _Did my last statement completely go over his head?

"She came home early, but did you even hear me?" Again, silence.

"_Ooh… well, damn…" _He said after realizing what I said.

"You're really slow sometimes, you know?" I laughed lightly.

"_Shut up." _Rodrick responded, _"But now we have to deal with one more person getting it all wrong." _

"I'm just gonna try to forget about it, just let them think what they want." I jumped on my bed and lied on my back.

"_You do that, I think I'll use my own methods to get people to shut up."_ Rodrick then began yelling to someone he was with for a few moments before he let out a sigh, _"Hey, I gotta go, I have limited phone time?" _I raised an eyebrow.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"_Greg and I got in a fight at church over the weekend and my mom only lets me have my phone at school." _I laughed lightly.

"I'm guessing you don't go to church by choice." I said.

"_Nope, I have no say in whether or not I go." _He replied, _"So, now I have to get off the phone."_

"Okay, talk to you later than." I said before he hung up.

I walked through the hall casually; another fun day at school (note the great sarcasm). Last night I began to finally figure out what I would do for my multimedia project so I was confident I'd finish it quickly.

As I turned the corner, I saw Rodrick talking to one of his delinquent band mates. A smile spread across my face as I began walking toward him and stopped by his side.

"Hi." The two guys stopped talking to look at me.

"Hey." Rodrick replied simply then looked back at his band mate, "So, we need to do rehearsal somewhere else."

"My house?" His friend replied then Rodrick nodded.

"See ya then." Rodrick turned back to me as his band mate walked away. We began walking down the hall.

"Still in trouble?" I asked. Rodrick nodded.

"Greg and I might be in trouble like this for a week or so." He replied.

"Well that's fun." I said sarcastically.

"Whatever…" we walked silently for a few moments.

"So… I just need to tell you that I probably won't need anything else for the project…" I started and looked up at his face.

"You won't be coming over much then?" He asked.

"Not for school… but I wanna stay friends." I replied a bit awkwardly. Did he even consider us friends? Rodrick was silent.

"Yeah, of course." He finally responded.

"Are you just saying that or do you actually want to be friends?" I asked with a sigh smile. Rodrick gave me a grin and threw his arm over my shoulders.

"I actually mean it." He replied, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to go, people to see, classes to sleep in." I laughed lightly as he took back his arm and began walking away.

"See ya." I began walking to my locker.

"Annnnnndi!" Luna sang as she walked alongside me, "Hello, darling." I gave her a smile.

"Hi, Luna." I replied as we stopped at my locker.

"So, how are things with Rodrick?" I got two notebooks out of my locker before closing it.

"Things are fine; I just finished the first half of my project, so I don't have to follow him around like I'm paparazzi anymore." Luna nodded.

"So, does that mean no more Rodrick?" I gave her a confused look.

"No, Rodrick's kinda like a friend now." I replied as we began walking to class.

"Friend? He's a friend?" She asked a little shocked.

"Yeah, why is that so hard to believe?" I replied and came to a halt as we stood outside Luna's class.

"Well, you're not much of a people person…" She started and I nodded, "And he doesn't like a lot of people from what you told me."

"Doesn't that make us similar? Last I checked, similarities are a good thing in a friendship." I replied. Luna then went quiet.

"I guess… but, just out of curiosity, do you like him?" I gave her a shocked look.

"You mean like…?" I trailed off but Luna understood what I meant and nodded, "…honestly… no, I never thought about it." Well, when people thought we were dating I thought about it…

"Alright, just wondering…" Luna gave a smile and turned into the classroom. I began walking down the hall and thought about the conversation Luna and I just had. I honestly can say I've never really considered any feelings for Rodrick; I've only known him for a little over two weeks, after all. But since when has time ever mattered?

I guess Rodrick was kinda cute… well, more than cute, he was damn hot. And for the most part he had a decent personality.

Damn, now I was going to start considering feelings for him. Maybe Luna did that on purpose, she did know me enough for her to know I'd do this… But I didn't want to consider any feelings for Rodrick; I just wanted him to be a friend.

But he'd be a great boyfriend…

I got so caught up with my thoughts I almost didn't realize I was walking past my first period English class, but I caught myself and entered the room. I found that there were still many seats open, so I began to walk toward the back.

Which seat did Rodrick sit in during last period? He sat near the back…

I need to stop.

All I was now thinking about was Rodrick and what Luna said.

"Damn you, Luna." I grumbled as I sat at a desk (which was the seat Rodrick liked to sit in most).

"Luna, I hate you." I said as I walked to my computer in our last period. She gave me a confused look but smiled.

"And what did I do this time?" She asked. I looked around and motioned for her to come closer. She rolled in her chair as I leaned over my desk, "So, what?"

"All I can think about is Rodrick." I replied quickly. Now she was grinning.

"And that's my fault?" I glared at her slightly.

"You made me consider feelings for him." I added. Luna had a triumphant look on her face.

"So, then, do you like him now?"

"I'm not sure." I said and sat in my chair. I logged onto my computer quickly and went to my project, "I kinda do, but I kinda don't." Luna was still smirking, "And I know you did that on purpose."

"Oh, innocent little me?" She replied in a childish tone. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes you, you ass." She laughed lightly and turned in her chair.

"Oh, well then…" I began to look over what I had so far on my presentation and it wasn't much. It was a new thing for me to actually write about a person, I was never a fan of biographies and now here I was making one. I also noticed I wasn't so great at it.

I let out a sigh; this project was difficult, the topic was difficult, and I didn't know what to do.

The majority of the period I spent doing practically nothing; I spent half the time trying to work on the project and the other thinking about/looking at pictures of Rodrick. Dammit, I think I have feelings for him. And I will say now that I have no idea how to behave around guys I like; I've never had a boyfriend and every time I had liked a guy he never knew much more than my name. So, now things could be a little awkward around Rodrick.

I was now walking down the hall silently with Luna to the front of the school. For some of multimedia she would bother me about Rodrick but I did my best to ignore her, so she eventually gave up.

"Hey, I hate to tell you this now, but I have to stay after school for tutoring." Luna said, "I have to go that way." She pointed down another hall. I let out a sigh.

"That's fine…" I began walking away from Luna, "I can walk."

"You're gonna walk two miles?" Luna asked surprised.

"Hey, I may be a lazy ass, but I can walk more than a couple of hundred feet." I replied and smiled.

"Don't get kidnapped." Luna joked. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"If you insist." Luna began walking away, "Bye." I made my way to my locker, got a few things, and walked out front. I looked around the parking lot and began walking.


End file.
